Healthy Spaces and Places
The Department of Health and Ageing is funding a unique partnership between the Australian Local Government Association, the National Heart Foundation of Australia and the Planning Institute of Australia who are working together to develop Healthy Spaces and Places.
The Healthy Spaces and Places project aims to promote the on-going development and improvement of built environments where Australian people live, work and play, which will facilitate lifelong active living and promote good health outcomes for all. The project has a national approach to raising awareness of the relationship between health and the built environment, and to contributing to the development of a national policy setting.
Healthy Spaces and Places has consulted broadly with planning and health professionals, governments, the development industry and community sector, and academics and researchers via a series of workshops held in metropolitan and regional locations around Australia. Focus groups are currently being held with practitioners to test a pilot website and Guide, with the Guide and website to be ready for use mid-2009.
For more detail, including responses to the consultation feedback, please visit the Planning Institute of Australia website: www.planning.org.au.